


Final Emblem: Tears of the Moon

by Unionhack



Category: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VIII, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-13
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-07 09:48:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3170384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unionhack/pseuds/Unionhack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of the Time Compression crisis that was stopped by the team led by Squall Leonhart years before, the world still feels the effects of the tragedies that led up to Ultimecia's rise in power.</p><p>Monsters brought to Earth by the Lunar Cry brought on by the now-defective Lunatic Pandora prowl the ruins of once proud nation of Esthar, and while the armies of Galbadia and Esthar continue to hold the line against the beasts, only one group dares to venture into the heart of their territory to strike against the monsters themselves; SeeDs, re-purposed from their original objective of hunting the sorceresses to hunting down extremely dangerous monsters hidden in Esthar and beyond. </p><p>Lucina Lowell, the daughter of an esteemed Esthar general, has come of age to participate in a field exam as a SeeD candidate. Her future career as a SeeD hangs on her performance; but will she have a greater role to play?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Memoirs

**Initializing Balamb Garden Student Interface**

** Reminder: Be sure to maintain regular journal entries to help combat the residual effects of GF usage **

User: LucLow7719

Assigned GF Units: Leviathan

PW: **************

Welcome, Lucina Lowell

* * *

 

_Journal Entry #2,173_

_Marked **Important**_

_The date of the test draws ever closer, and this year I am going to participate. I've studied and trained for 7 years; this time, I am ready._

_Severa, Owain, Inigo and I agreed that this would be the year we participate in the exam together. We were all content to continue as normal garden students for a time, and had even had thoughts of waiting until we were 18 like most candidates, but after the streak of success we've had in the practice area, we knew that we could handle a field exam. More time as an actual SeeD means more good to be done, more experience to be gained._

_We are ready. If we can stand together and work as a unit, a field exam should be child's play._

_I intend for my next journal entry to be made on the SeeD network._

_-LL_

* * *

Lucina pressed the power button on her terminal and took in a deep breath. It was a standard routine journal entry; mandated as part of her training as a student of Balamb Garden, one of the military academies that trained the finest mercenaries in the world. As a user of a GF, known formally as a Guardian Force, Lucina was granted great power in the form of 'Para-Magic', magic useable by a normal human being. She was also in command of a magical powerful entity, hers the malefic serpent Leviathan that commanded the forces of the sea and granted her the power she wielded. However, the use of a GF was widely known to cause side effects; namely, a severe case of long-term memory loss.

In the early years of the Garden's activity, the memory loss effect of the GFs was less well-documented and thus no precautions were taken to prevent the effect. As a result, many active SeeD members retained little to no memory of their early childhoods, and sometimes even forgot details of the early years of their Garden education. 

After the original headmaster of the Garden, Cid Kramer, stepped down and allowed the famous hero Squall Leonhart to take his place, many changes were put into effect; the most well known of them was to institute mandatory journal-keeping by all students that were users of GFs. As a sufferer of the memory loss himself, Squall wished such a thing to not befall his own students, and thus instituted such a policy to assist them in retaining their memories, or records of them at the very least. It was a small price to pay for the power the GFs offered, power that enabled SeeD members to withstand the trials that could be found in the monster haven that was the ruined Esthar city.

Esthar. Despite the memory loss taking a hold of her mind, Lucina still vividly recalled the day that the Lunar Cry descended upon the glorious city that was her home. She remembered the day where she pressed against the glass of her father's penthouse residence, watching as fires erupted creatures several meters tall tore down buildings as if they were made of paper. The sight of her father grabbing her by the arm and practically dragging her to an escape craft, speeding away as her home burned.

She had no memories of her mother. Her father refused to speak of such until the day he died. Lucina could only surmise that her mother perished during the Lunar Cry, the event that caused the monsters that resided upon the moon to descend upon the world. Esthar, the glorious city of technology governed by the kind and humorous President Loire, was in immediate proximity to the site where the monsters touched down, and thus it received the worst of the monsters' arrival. The other continents had the occasional stragglers prowl their forests and plains, but were relatively safe in stark contrast to the living hell that was Esthar, what had formerly been the most populated and prosperous nation in the world.

To think that she would be able to go back someday, to take part in the eradication efforts on the monsters that inhabited the shell of her childhood home. Though she remembered little about it, she felt a duty to the place, a sense of profound nostalgia whenever she read any article or passage that detailed the former glory of Esthar. She would see it reclaimed, or give her life to that end. 

But, in order to throw herself into the fire, she would first have to stoke it. She would first have to actually succeed in passing her exam and finally becoming a full-fledged member of SeeD.

It wouldn't be long now. She would see her former home soon enough.


	2. Test Anxiety

4 PM, their usual meeting time.

And as usual, the others were late.

Lucina took her seat at a table in the Garden's cafeteria, awaiting her friends as the cafeteria bustled with activity. The garden's legendary hot dogs were being served and thus students rushed to get a plate before they were all gone. Lucina preferred a simple cup of soup herself, and didn't need to combat long lines to get it.

She heard a bit of huffing and puffing and turned to the left to see Owain approaching, a plate of hot dogs in his possession. "You ran straight from class, didn't you?"

The blonde-haired young man gave Lucina a dismissive huff as he took his seat. She could think what she wanted; he had hot dogs and many other students did not. There were many things that Owain liked; hot dogs ranked a mere few rungs on his list below smiting monsters in the name of justice.

Lucina smiled at her cousin. He never got his hot dogs. This was a rare occasion, and savoring the small victories was important. It was just more fun to poke fun at him. "Have you seen the other two?" she asked, wondering where Inigo and Severa were. They were usually late, but not later than Owain.

"They were poking around the training center. Scouting things out, seeing how it looks today." Owain replied, his words slightly muffled by the his full mouth. Lucina rolled her eyes at his lack of manners and merely sipped at her soup.

The Garden's training center, a controlled environment with actual monsters roaming the grounds, was a common haunt for the four cadets. The monsters tended to wander to and fro different parts of the center, however, and as such the training center tended to be more dangerous on some days than on others, and thus sometimes a bit of forward scouting was helpful.

Lucina smiled when the aforementioned Inigo and Severa approached the table at last, but her smile turned to a look of confusion when she saw their widened eyes. Even the normally cool-headed Severa looked disturbed.

Disturbed? No, that wasn't it. It was a look of disbelief.

"What ails you, comrades?" Owain asked in his trademark theatrical manner of speech after swallowing a chunk of hot dog. "Find anything interesting?"

Inigo nodded and placed his hands upon the table, looking to Owain and then to Lucina. "Oh, yes. Not just interesting; terrifying. We found the Garden's T-Rexaur."

Lucina's eyes widened. Now she knew why her friends appeared so stunned. The T-Rexaur was a fearsome monster, a massive apex predator used in cautionary tales to scare misbehaving children. Its incredible destructive potency was amplified by the species' territorial nature, thus the garden only kept one in its training center at a time. The predator tended to hunt, kill, and store its food in its lair where it spent most of its time, and was thus difficult to locate in the massive training center environment, even when it was on a hunt. That Inigo and Severa were able to find it was a remarkable feat.

"You know what we're gonna do." Severa told the others. "We're gonna be the ones that take it down."

Blinking in further disbelief, Lucina turned her head to her roommate and crossed her arms. "You do know what you're suggesting, do you? Us, four cadets, taking on the most dangerous thing in the Garden?"

"What's wrong, Luci? Scared?" Severa teased, grinning evilly. "This is the best way to prepare ourselves, right? If we can take down a big baddie then a field exam shouldn't be a problem."

"I'm not scared!" Lucina protested in her defense, huffing. "I'm just... well, alright, I'm a little frightened that something may happen." she explained, sighing. The training center was no laughing matter, and though few students ever met their deaths in the controlled environment, facing a T-Rexaur wasn't a common occurrence.

Inigo placed a hand on Lucina's shoulder and smiled. Lucina quickly brushed his hand off, knowing his flirtatious tricks all too well. Inigo, with a false look of hurt on his face, spoke anyway. "I'm not saying it isn't dangerous, but no one gets better unless they temper themselves in the fire, right? We're going to be taking on situations even more dangerous than this if we- when we pass our exam."

Owain stood tall and raised his fist, having finished his hot dogs. "Yes, like warriors of old we will strike down the accursed beast in the name of justice!" He proclaimed. He was even more excited than the others. "The foul miscreant shall die upon our blades of le-"

"Wow. Dude, you can even make taking down a T-Rexaur sound lame." Inigo interrupted, rolling his eyes.

Scowling, Owain sat back down. "Shut up! It's a legitimate motivational tool."

"Ignoring Nerdus Maximus here, are you in or what?" Severa asked, issuing a sort of challenge to Lucina. Lucina looked up at her and sighed, nodding without really pondering it. She wouldn't hear the end of it if she said no. Worse, they might have even left to fight the monster without her.

"Good!" Inigo declared with a smile. "You won't regret this when they start signing us as SeeDs on the spot."

Lucina shook her head. "I highly doubt they'll do that."

"You're just not dreaming big enough. Just get your stuff together and meet us there!"

 

* * *

Lucina checked her outfit in her dorm room. A long-sleeved collared blue shirt, accentuated with a red scarf draped around her neck and hanging down her back. A black-and-grey checkered skirt over a pair of black pants, completed by her pair of buckled combat boots. Lastly, her sword hung in its scabbard on her left hip, from where it could be easily drawn.

In an academy where complex weapons such as gunblades were used, Lucina embraced the simplicity that a simple longsword offered. When it came to fighting, sometimes simply swinging and hitting something was all she needed to worry about.

It wasn't a bad idea to be comfortable in how she dressed. It was going to be a rough fight. Though they looked professional enough, Lucina loathed the stiff cadet uniform that many students wore around the garden despite the lack of a mandated dress code. She was a woman of practicality, after all. 

She couldn't deny how badly she wanted to try on an official SeeD uniform, though.

"Severa, are you ready?" Lucina called to the other room, her voice carrying through to the other side of the wall to Severa's room. 

"Almost, hold your horses." Severa grumbled back. 'Almost' with Severa almost certainly meant waiting. With a sigh, Lucina exited her room, made her way through the common room of her and Severa's dormitory suite, and stuck her head through the crack in Severa's door. Severa was meticulously adjusting her long black hair into two pigtails, as was her norm. 

Lucina cleared her throat. Honestly, going to work on her hair wasn't exactly on her mind when she had to prepare for an excursion to the training center, but she wasn't Severa, either. 

"What? Can't a lady look her best when she's taking down a giant monster?" Severa protested, putting the finishing touches on her locks. Upon finishing, Severa stood and strapped on a belt that supported a scabbard on each of her hips. The scabbards housed Severa's short blades that she wielded in tandem. "Alright. Ready?"

Lucina nodded. "Do you think we'll defeat it?" she asked as they exited their dorm room. 

"Duh. We'll be fine." Severa replied. "How can we not when you're leading us, hm?" she asked. Severa was more than a bit jealous of Lucina's role as the leader when it came to combat, but she would never voice that jealousy aloud, especially when she doubted that she could do a better job.

* * *

 

The two made their way to the entrance of the training center, where they found Owain and Inigo. Owain had his katana's sheath in his hand, the blade firmly tucked in. Inigo carried a black case with him and sported a buckler on his left wrist. Such a small thing would offer little protection against something as massive as a T-Rexaur, but it would help against the smaller enemies in the center, in addition to being a serviceable bludgeon. 

"Oh hey, you're both here. Cool, let's head in, yeah?" Inigo asked. He was eager, that much was apparent. "Hopefully the thing is still lurking around."

The four cadets entered through the ID-activated metal door, stepping into the main lobby of the training center. The ground was grassy, but any natural feeling that the area may have had was disrupted by the presence of metal structures and fixtures that ran the controlled environment's parameters. Before them were two sealed metal doors, the true barriers that separated them from the main body of the training center. 

Before they went anywhere, Inigo knelt down and opened the black case he had in his possession, revealing his Hyperion-model gunblade. The blade was largely straight and paralell in alignment with its gun fixture. The gun mechanism itself was modeled after a semi-automatic pistol, and blended into the blade almost seamlessly. Inigo removed the blade from its case and swung it in the air a few times, then clicked the trigger. A bullet did not fire, instead the blade of the weapon vibrated as a bullet shell was ejected from the blade's hilt. As the group knew, the gun mechanism's purpose wasn't to allow ranged attacks; instead it created an intense vibration that greatly enhanced the cutting power of the blade.

"Left or right?" Owain asked when Inigo was done with his little warmup. 

Inigo pointed to the door on the right. "We started through that one." he stated. Lucina nodded and took point, pushing the button next to the door that prompted it to open. 

As soon as they entered the main body of the training center, they could hear the skittering of startled monsters. They would be upon the group of cadets once they spotted what they would perceive as an opening. The cadets, however, were fully prepared for such an ambush, having studied the tactics of the monsters in their years at the Garden.

Lucina drew her blade and Severa drew her swords, while Owain kept his blade sheathed. "Ready?" Lucina asked, looking around in every direction as she continued forward. 

"Yeah." Severa replied. "Take a left here." she pointed out as they approached a crossroads. 

Lucina did as she was advised and led the others down a dirt path that led to an artificial river. There was an alarming lack of monsters out in the open, likely due to the area's apex predator being on the prowl. A slight tremor and faint stomping noise confirmed Lucina's suspicion; their target was near, and every monstrous resident of the training center knew it.

"We should find an open space. Somewhere tactically advantageous." Lucina told the others, her eyes darting around at her nearby options. The narrow path they were on wouldn't suffice, as they had little room. The path diverged from the river to a clearing, mostly flat with the exception of a small pond that had an equally small bridge that crossed over it. It wasn't ideal, but it was more open than the dirt pathway.

"Lucina..." Owain muttered as the stomping got louder. At the end of the path, the reptilian beast showed its head, seemingly sniffing the air and pausing when it sensed the presence of the cadets. It turned its head as its nostrils flared, letting out deep snarls.

Inigo gulped. "The thing's even scarier when it's looking at you."

The beast roared and began stomping its way down the pathway. "Even worse when it's coming at you!" Inigo yelled out of fright. "Go, go, go!"

Lucina took a deep breath and immediately turned to run towards their chosen clearing, with the other three in tow. Once they made it there, they each took cover behind a tree that framed the entryway to the clearing. The T-Rexaur followed them and ran into the clearing, past their hiding places behind the trees. Upon realizing they weren't in its sight, the beast swung around, its large tail sending a gust of wind throughout the clearing.

The four cadets took their place in a row, Lucina and Inigo in the middle while Severa and Owain stood on the ends. The beast took small, measured steps as it sized up its opposition. 

Severa looked to Lucina. "These things don't like ice, right?" she asked. Seeing as she possessed GF Shiva, which had an affinity for the element of ice, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have Severa head up the attack. 

Lucina nodded and began to size up her options as well. She and Severa were the most magically proficient, while Owain and Inigo preferred being up-close-and-personal. Still, she saw herself as a jack-of-all-trades, able to help either should the need arise.

She pushed the thoughts out of her mind. Now was not the time to be overly analytic. It was the time to act.

The beast singled out one of the cadets, apparently Inigo and made a rush forward with its head lowered with the intention to bite. The cadets all leapt away from the charge, Inigo making it out in the nick of time. As the beast passed, Inigo swung his gunblade and squeezed the trigger, striking the beast's leg with a deep gash. 

The T-Rexaur, though obviously in pain by the sound of its roar, didn't seem to be hampered by the cut. With such thick skin, it would take more than that to debilitate the monster. 

"Blizzard!" Severa shouted as blue particles of light rose from the ground and spun around her. At her command, a block of ice formed above the beast and dropped down, striking it on the back. That did far more than Inigo's slash from earlier; Severa was correct when she said that the T-Rexuar was susceptible to ice.

In response, the beast dropped its focus on Inigo and swung its tail in an arc, sweeping half of the clearing and knocking Severa off of her feet. With a shout, Owain approached and drew his blade for a strike, gashing the monster's leg in the same spot that Inigo had done earlier, and then sheathed his blade as he backed away. His fighting style centered around the drawing and sheathing of his blade; showy, and not entirely practical against a non-humanoid enemy, but Owain swore by it and made it out of more than one scrape with it.

_Taking advantage of an existing wound. Good._

Lucina dashed over to where Severa had hit the ground and helped her up with her free hand. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Severa nodded, catching her breath and re-affirming her grasp on her swords as Inigo and Owain kept the beast busy. "I'm going to call Shiva."

Shaking her head, Lucina placed a hand on Severa's shoulder. "You don't have to do that. We can handle this on our own." she objected. Using para-magic was as natural and as tiring as swinging a blade, but calling a GF into physical form required a tremendous amount of energy that could possibly incapacitate a person. Such a toll on the user was a side effect of the subdued modern GF; nearly a decade ago GFs could be called in at a fraction of the toll on the user at the price of accelerated memory deterioration. Such was a by-product of the effort to reduce the danger that GFs could pose.

Severa rolled her eyes at Lucina's objection. "If it comes to that then I'll do it. And I expect you guys to cover me."

Lucina stared back coolly at Severa and huffed. "Just be careful."

"Little less talking, little more hitting please!" Inigo shouted from the other side of the clearing, snapping Lucina and Severa back into reality. The T-Rexaur had them cornered against a line of trees, preparing to bite at them. Shouting, Lucina rushed forward and lashed at the beast's tail with her blade, interrupting it and prompting the monster to swerve around. Lucina ducked under the tail, as did Owain as it swung towards him. Inigo, on the other hand, didn't react as quickly, and instinctively grabbed on to the tail with his free hand, being taken along with it.

"Inigo!" Lucina shouted, having to roll away as the monster dove its jaw at her. Mustering up her will, Lucina conjured up magical energy that manifested as the normal sparkling blue particles. "Thunder!" she called out, causing a bolt of lightning to strike at the beasts' head. The T-Rexaur flinched, its face blackened by the scorching lightning. Lucina had successfully destroyed one of it's eyes. 

Carefully climbing up the monster's tail, Inigo thrusted his blade into the beast's tail hide and pulled the trigger. The thick skin was durable, but Inigo's sharp blade was enough to dig into it. With the support, Inigo was able to withstand the monster shaking its tail around violently. 

Unfortunately for Lucina, the T-Rexaur was still very capable of seeing her with only one eye, and try as she did to enter the blind zone she created, the beast was able to follow her movements with bites that she managed to dodge by a hair each time. 

Backing away from the conflict to the edge of the clearing, Severa took a deep breath and sheathed her swords, clenching her fists and focusing on the energy present within her. It would take some time, but when the time came, she would rain hell upon the monster. 

As long as she stayed safe. 

Realizing what Severa was doing from his unfortunate perch, Inigo sped up his climb up the monster's back. "Owain, Lucina! Keep this thing from turning around!" he yelled, trying to maintain his hold. Having made it past the tail and onto the creature's back, he found the tough hide of the T-Rexaur's back much harder to pierce and thus Inigo had to take hold of the black, bony spikes that protruded from the T-Rexaur's spine. 

Lucina stood by Owain and nodded at him, baiting the beast with another lightning bolt. This one struck the creature's neck, doing less harm than the last one. She dodged the counter-bite by leaping backwards instead of to the side, giving up valuable ground quickly. 

"Just a bit more..." Severa muttered, clenching her fists even tighter. 

Owain was pushed away, being impacted by a headbutt from the now-desperate monster. He fell to the ground, drawing his sword and pointing it at the monster as it dove in for another bite. Suddenly the sound of a gunshot rang out and the beast stopped mid-lunge, rearing its head far back, exposing its neck. Inigo had successfully stabbed the beast in its neck, specifically in a spot made weak by Lucina's earlier lightning bolt. 

"Shiva!" Severa shouted, thrusting her fist foward as magical green orbs circled around her person and then shot out in random directions. 

The temperature of the center dropped instantly as ice gathered around the ground. Suddenly an icicle shot up from the ground, an icicle containing a frozen blue-skinned woman within. The icicle shattered and Shiva broke free, sending ice shards flying into the air where they stopped, stuck in suspended animation. With a lift of her hand, Shiva gathered all of the shards into a volley of frozen arrows, and with another quick gesture, she sent the volley towards the throat of the beast.

The attack was a success. As soon as the ice shard volley began to strike, Inigo removed his blade and leapt off to safety, falling onto the ground in a roll. The ice shards struck home in rapid succession as the beast roared defiantly. With a snap of Shiva's fingers, the shards lodged in the T-Rexaur's throat shattered, rupturing the monster from the inside and sounding its death knell. The T-Rexaur keeled over and hit the ground with a loud thud, dead.

Lucina took a moment to catch her breath. It was a struggle, but they had triumphed over the strongest the Garden had to offer. Their years of training had paid off.

Severa fell to the ground, panting heavily. "Ugh. The... dumb thing's dead. Can we... can we go home now?" she asked in between breaths. 

Grinning, Inigo attached his blade to his belt on the backside of his waist and lifted Severa up princess-style from the ground. "Let's get you home, shall we fair maiden?""

"If you don't put me down you'll be crawling back to the dorms." Severa threatened, sneering at Inigo.

"Fine, fine." he replied, letting her down gently (so to speak). "Still, good move there. We work well together." 

Lucina nodded. "I think we're ready! I can hardly wait!"

"Hold, fellow child of Destiny!" Owain began. He frowned when the others glared at him for his theatrics, but he continued to speak; albeit in a less exuberant fashion. "We still have a few days before that actually happens. The transfer students haven't even gotten here yet."

Nodding, Lucina crossed her arms. She was getting ahead of herself. The transfer students from Balamb Garden's sister academies, Galbadia Garden and the recently reinstated Trabia Garden, had yet to arrive for the field exam. As Balamb Garden was the only one of the three institutions that conducted the SeeD field exam, students wishing to become fully fledged SeeD agents would have to transfer from their original Gardens for the exam. 

It would be any day, now. Lucina was sure she had marked the day on her calendar at one point. 

"In any case, I guess we should be getting back. I'm beat." Inigo stated. "I'm sure they'll call us to congratulate us in the morning."

Severa rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. They'll probably just say we're meeting expectations and leave it at that."

"Whatever the case may be, we've all grown stronger regardless." Lucina intervened, a smile on her face as she sheathed her blade. "That should be enough for us, for now. In the meantime, let's get some rest."

The four cadets left the training center, leaving behind the corpse of the fearsome beast they had slain. They were sure to have a reputation by week's end for the feat, but at the moment, all that mattered to them was the sweet call of sleep.

 


	3. Briefing

Lucina made her way to the directory terminal in the heart of Balamb Garden the following morning, meeting her friends on the way.

"The big day's finally here, huh?" Inigo said, finally breaking the silence that had accompanied their little stroll. "I wonder what we're going to be doing."

No one responded, partially due to sleepiness and partially due to anxiety. The education they had received over the course of an entire decade was coming to a head; the field exam, the test that would determine if they would be raised into the lofty ranks of SeeD. It wasn't something they could just converse about; not yet, not when they had no idea where they would be sent and what they would be ordered to do.

The group eventually reached the directory and joined the small crowd of participating students, all of them gathered around four figures standing directly in front of the directory. Lucina knew them all well, as any student of the Garden would.

The first, a blonde man with an ever-recognizable tribal tattoo on the side of his face. Instructor Zell Dincht, leader of operations and deployment, and widely renowned martial artist. Despite his formal SeeD attire, the man had a casual air about him, brought to head by his laid back posture and his slight smirk as the other three adults conversed. Covering his fists were his ever-present red combat gloves, sporting an odd design unfamiliar to many. His hair was slicked back (though pictures and old Garden legends attested to the former spikiness of what was now a mane) and he sported a well-trimmed chin strap beard.

The second, a woman with radiant blonde hair tied up in a bun with two long strands falling down in front, listened to the other three talk as she simply smiled and occasionally shook her head. Headmistress Quistis of Galbadia Garden, looking as professional as ever in her elaborate black headmistresses' coat, adorned with gold chains and red accents. Formerly a SeeD and instructor at Balamb Garden, Quistis had long since served as Galbadia Garden's headmistress since the retirement of the old headmaster, Martine. Despite all of her elegance and her admittedly flashy clothing, one could easily spot the contrastingly simple wedding band on her ring finger; a small ring of silver, nothing more.

The third, a short woman with long black hair with a streak of brown, her hands crossed behind her back as she balanced on her tip-toes to approach the height of the others around her. Headmistress Rinoa Leonhart, recognizable by her long sky-blue duster with white angel wing designs decorating the back. Though her position as Headmistress was mostly titular due to her marriage to the Garden's headmaster, no one could dispute her status as one of, if not the, most dangerous person on the Garden's staff. Rinoa was one of the legendary sorceresses, having been given the power by the former sorceress Edea during the Time Compression crisis ten years ago. Though her status as a sorceress (a status that often drove sorceresses to acts of destruction and political upheaval in the past) was a politically controversial one, no one could deny her love for the students of Garden. She was always one to give sound advice to students in need, mothering those who needed support. Her primary role was to oversee the use of para-magic, as her status as sorceress granted her the ability to cast natural magic. Thus, she was the authority on making 'artificial' magic as potent and 'realistic' as possible.

The fourth and last, ever recognizable by the prominent scar that diagonally marked his forehead, was the famous Squall Leonhart. The leader of Balamb Garden's SeeD forces during the Time Compression crisis, Squall lead the charge against the time-crossing sorceress Ultimecia and saved the world from her designs with the help of his friends; three of them being the three surrounding him at the directory. His unruly brown hair reached down to his shoulders, with a prominent strand falling in front of his face just to the side of his eye. He wore a long, black leather coat adorned with a fur collar, the coat reaching down to just above his knees. Though normally grim, stoic, and quite serious, headmaster Leonhart was showing a rare smile when talking with the others (a smile that occasionally faded into an annoyed sigh when Zell spoke).

Tales of the exploits of Squall and his companions were told the world around, and now those same heroes were at the forefront of aiding the people of the world with the threat of the monsters that fell to Earth during the Lunar Cry. It was humbling, Lucina felt, to be under their command, yet also a bit frightening. No doubt they had very high standards, having faced down terrors and adversaries that pushed the boundaries of the imagination during their conflict with Ultimecia. 

Upon seeing all of the students gather, Squall looked to Quistis and nodded, stepping forward and placing his hands in the pockets of his coat before speaking. "Good morning." he began simply. He was never one for elaborate speeches. "As you know, today is the day that you take your field exam. This is a test, yes, but it is also a real combat situation. The danger will be real, the risks will be very real. Your training has prepared you for this; now is when you make the most of it."

Rinoa stepped forward next, as was the usual for the headmaster/headmistress duo. They often coordinated their speeches, as the other would tend to remember details or points that the other would forget. "For this mission, your first mission, you will be going to Galbadia."

Galbadia? Lucina tilted her head. Normally, field exams for students of the 'modern' Garden were expeditions to Esthar to strike at the monsters residing there. What was going on in Galbadia that warranted sending them there?

"To elaborate on this, Headmistress Quistis will speak." Rinoa concluded, taking a step back.

Quistis nodded. "Thank you, Rinoa." she said with a straight face, then turned to the gathered students. "As you know, the political state of Galbadia has been a shaky one at best for the last few years. SeeD had originally been a mercenary force that would participate in such political conflicts for profit, but recent events in Esthar have seen that change. However, the situation in Galbadia is one we cannot ignore." 

To give a visual aid, Instructor Dincht stepped back and pressed a button on the directory display. The display switched from a map of Garden to a few pictures of men wearing suits befitting politicians, save for one man in a teal shirt with a ponytail. Lucina easily recognized him; President Laguna Loire of Esthar. 

"Ten years ago, Esthar was lost during the Lunar Cry. Though the resistance was widespread, it was ultimately overwhelmed by the sheer number of the monsters that dropped on the continent. A great many Estharians died, and those who survived fled to the other nations, primarily Galbadia. Estharian refugees are still abound; some of you may even be refugees yourselves." 

Lucina and Owain both hung their heads a bit. 

"In order to reclaim the lost continent, President Laguna collaborated with the newly elected President Caraway of Galbadia-" Quistis continued, pointing to a man with grey hear sporting a coat adorned with dozens of service medals. "-to mount an offensive. Caraway agreed, much to the displeasure of many Galbadian officials. The nation was, after all, still recovering from a war under the commands of a Sorceress. However, no factions had pressed their displeasure until recently."

Quistis then pointed to the third man pictured, and continued speaking. "This is Senator Dorian Engstrom, a close advisor of President Vinzer Deling until the president's death at the hands of Sorceress Edea. He has long been an opponent of Caraway's, but only recently has he actually defected and taken a number of soldiers to attack Deling City, the capital of Galbadia. The odd circumstance is that it isn't solely soldiers at his command."

Zell pressed the button on the directory once more, and the image shifted to that of the interior of Galbadia garden, where several monsters were prowling the halls. 

"There was recently a breach in Galbadia Garden's training center, in which most of our captured monsters broke loose in a coordinated escape effort. The problem of them mounting a coordinated effort when they lack the mental capacity to do so is worrying enough; even more worrying is the fact that they now follow the Senator in his assault on Deling City."

Clearing his throat, Squall stepped forward to speak once again. "Your mission is to assist the Galbadian military in repelling the assault on the city. In the meantime, SeeD agents will be dispatched to investigate why the monsters are following the Senator, and potentially take him down. You are to do all you are able to protect the citizens of the city." 

Now it made sense. Lucina enjoyed the idea of monster hunting; the prospect of protecting people from an actual assault, however, worried her. It seemed their task would be more difficult than she had thought. 

"Instructor Dincht will be handling squad assignments. You are to meet with your assigned instructor and follow his or her directions. The Garden will be moving in three hours."

Lucina's grim expression gave way to a smile; it wasn't often that the Garden took to the air anymore since the large presence of monsters at the main destination of the SeeD put the Garden at risk. During the Time Compression crisis, it was discovered that the Garden was built with the capability of flight, and the capability of such was instrumental in helping stop the threat of Ultimecia.

Lucina had only been on the garden when it was flying a handful of times, and it was when she was much younger. She eagerly awaited taking to the air once again.

Clearing his throat, Instructor Dincht checked a clipboard and began calling out names in sets of four. Squad A and Squad B went by without any noteworthy names being called, until...

"Squad C; Lucina, Owain, Inigo, Severa." the instructor called out. Casual as ever, using only their first names.

The four cadets stepped forward, and the instructor plucked the sheet of paper he was reading off of and handed it to Lucina. Quietly enough so that the other students wouldn't hear, he spoke to them. "We heard about the T-Rexxaur. Figured there was no reason to split you all up now. Impress us. Lucina, you're squad captain. Good luck."

Lucina smiled and graciously accepted the paper with a mouthed 'thank you' and a bow. Respectful and proper as ever.

The cadets stepped away after being handed their paper, which listed their names, their student numbers, and a quick review of their directions and assignments. Lastly it listed their directing instructor; one Instructor Irvine Kinneas.

It was a name that Lucina didn't recognize. An instructor that she hadn't met yet? Unlikely; she was quite familiar with the faculty. It had to be an instructor from one of the other two Gardens in the world; Trabia or Galbadia. It was tradition that the students of each Garden took the same exam, after all. 

"I don't know him." Severa commented, peeking over Lucina's shoulder to get a look at the paper. "We're supposed to report to this guy, right? How are we supposed to know who he is?" 

As if on cue, someone cleared their throat behind the cadets. They turned to see a man with in a leather duster and a black cowboy hat, with brown hair tied up in a ponytail that rested on his shoulder. The man waved, then placed his hands on his hips. "Irvine Kinneas. You guys must be the Balamb squad I'm leading. I'm an old friend of your headmaster; it's good to see he's keeping this place up nice."

Inigo shook the man's hand, and the other three followed suit. Lucina surmised that the man must have been one of the people that accompanied Headmaster Leonhart ten years ago. 

"You heard Squall. Report time in a few hours; I'll be here when it's time. Make sure you're ready; this is real stuff we're getting into." Irvine concluded, tipping his hat in Lucina and Severa's direction. "See you all then."

The instructor walked off to join the others at the directory, leaving the cadets to their own devices.

Owain took a deep breath. "Ah... The hour of our-"

"English, please." Severa interrupted.

Clearing his throat, Owain continued. "Er... It's almost time. Yay. You guys take all the fun out of this."

Lucina smirked. "One manner of speech or another, we'll see this through." she said, looking to each of them. "Let's do our best."

 

 


End file.
